Tire-mold



V. A. PARKER.

mu; mow. APPLICATION FILED NOV-4| 1919.

"will i i E F- I, n m 29 30 29 22 26 28 24 7/ I To dll wfiom itmizy concern 1,390,058; I I v I a v I g Application filed ubvember 4, 1919. Serial No. 335,710.

11,:1'1'131) STAT-ESPATENT OFFICE.

( VICTOR A. PARKER, or AxRon', onto, ASSIGNOR mo THE B. r. eoonnron COMPANY,

or Nnw Yomrnt' Y; A CORPORATION or NEW YORK;

TIRE-MOLD.

Be it known that I, VIGTOR'A. PAnKER, a citizen"; of the United States, residing at Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have'invented a certain new and usefulTire-Mold, o t-which the following is a specifioation.

This inventionrelates to moldsforfrubber' tires, and more vpart1'cularlythose having provision for exerting. inward radlal compression upon 'the'tread portion of the tire,

I such type of mold'being convenient or essential in the manufacture ofrelatively-broad and shallowcushion tires for heavy motor vehicles. My objects, generally speaking, are the attainment of an improved product'- from the mold, and greaterfconvenience of assembling and: v dlsassembhng the t1re' and themold parts. 1 r I h Of the aecompanymg draw1ngs,j-' p Figure l is' a top plan vlew, partly 1n section, on theline 1 1 o f Fig.2, of mold constructed Ia'ccording to my invention,

1 v Fig. 2 isa showing a tire place, an'd without the top I low'er main molding membersor rings, 12

is the tire; 13 its annular base or rimand 14 is an expansible backing ring for sa d tlrerim, transversely split at 15,-oppos1tely or double wedgeiormed on its back at 16, 16 and annularly grooved or undercut at '17 to provide shoulders for the recept on of a prying tool to assist in loosen ng sardring from the mold and tire. The mold members 10,

11 are eomplementally 'wedge-formed'at18, 1'18 toexpand this ring against the'tlre rim,

andf'are formed to come together at 1 in back of said ring to take'the final pressure ofthe tire press, 20, 20 are prying lugs on the mold membersl O, 111 and 21,21 are hane' dles thereon for thereception of the liftlnghooks on a'chain-hoist. v

22, 22 are the segments of a tread molding ring which is transverselydivided at. four points, 23,"23, is formed with ribs"24, 24: on

its inner periphery for molding the usual circumferential grooves 1n the tllf'e tread,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 6, 1921.

"and'is wedge-formed with an upward taper their inward movement by a pair of annular flanges 27, 28 formed on said members. These flanges terminate at the two outer ribs '24, so that the circumferential overflow, fins or rands on thetire-tread occur at the edges of thetwo outer grooves. The inner surfaces of said flanges and the adjacent portions of the mold-cavity surfaces on the Qmembers 10, 11 serve to mold the sides and adjacent tread portions of the tire, and the segmental ring 22, 22 molds the intermediate tread portion. w I

29 is a solid hand ring adapted to fit betweenparallel horizontal flanges 30, 80 on the two main mold members when the latter are fully closed together and having an annular vwedging surface 31 on its inner peripheryfcomplemental to the wedging surface 25 on the back of the tread-ring. 32, 32 are handles at opposite points on said band ring for the reception of chain-hoist hooks.

In operating my improved mold, the raw tire 12 with its rim and the backing ring 14 are located in the lower main mold member 11, and the tread-ring segments 22 are assembled on their seat26. Then the band-ring 29v is lowered into', place around said segments and partially telescoped therewith, after which the. upper main mold member 10 is placed in position and the whole assembly is then located between-the platens of the vuleanizing press and squeezed together by hydraulic pressure, This causes the main mold members 10, 11 to come together, forcing the backing-ring 14: fully into position, and the upper member, in its descent, pushes the hand ring 29 down into the same plane as the tread-ring 22, 22, thereby contracting the segments of the later upon the tire, until the parts finally assume substantially the relation shown in'Fig. 2. After the tire 1s vulcanized and the mold removed from the press, it is opened by lifting the entire mold by. a chain-hoist with the handles 21 of the 7 upper member-'10. 'Then a prying tool is inserted between the lugs and the lowerparts are forced away from said upper member onto the floor. The tire and all auxiliary mold parts remain in the lower main mem-' ber 11. jThe' backing ring 14 is then pried out of said lower member to loosen the tire,

the band ring 29'is lifted off, and the segments 22 of the tread-molding ring are pulled away from the tire, after which said tire may be readily lifted out of the bottom mold member.

By making the wedging band-r1ng 29 as a member separate from both main molding members the opening of the mold is facilitated by reduction of the amount of frictional surface which has to be initially dismany as four segments in said tread ring with consequently smaller and better-distributed transverse overflow fins and nobolting and unbolting of segments to perform as compared with the common use of a bolted 2-segment tread ring for tires of this character.

Various changes in the details of construction herein described be made without departing from the scope of my claims.

I claim: 1. A rubber-tire mold comprising two main molding rings and an interposed seg-' mental tread-molding ring, inclosing between them an annular molding cavity, one of said main rings having a seat substantially parallel with the general plane of the mold on which the segments of the treadmolding ring are radially slidable to open and close said ring, and means whereby the bringing together of said main mold rings contracts said tread-molding ring upon the tire.

2A rubber-tire mold comprising a lower main molding ring having a horizontal tread-ring seat, an upper main 'molding ring, and a segmental tread ring formed substantially as an annular frustum of a cone with its base slid-ably supported on said seat, said mold having wedging means actuatedby the descent of the upper main ring and'coacting-with the backs of the treadring segments for collectively contracting said segments upon the tire.

3. A rubber-tire mold comprising upper and lower main rings, each formed with part of an annular cavity for molding the sides and adjacent tread'vportions of a relatively -broadandshallow tire, a tread-ring seat on the lower main ring, an interposed segmental tread-ring for molding the intermediate tread portion, the segments whereof are radially slidable on said seat and wedgeformed on their backs with an upward taper 'extendingsubstantially throughout the height of said segments, and complemental wedging means-actuated by the descent of the upper main; ring ,for' forcing the treadring segments inwardly against the tire.

4, A rubbentire moldcomprising upper andlower' main molding rings, said lower "ring having a seat in a radial plane, a segmental tread-molding ring wedge-formed on its back and radially slidable on said seat, said rings-inclosing between them an annular molding cavity, and a complementally wedgeformed bandring separate from the two main'rings and adapted to be forced against said tread-molding ring to contract the latter upon the tire bythe closing-together ofsaid main'rings.

5.-A1 rubber-tire mold comprising upper and lower main molding rings and a segmental tread-ring inclosing an, annular molding cavity between them, the segments of said tread-ring being radially slidable' on a seat on the'lower main'ring and having vwedge-formedbacks slanting in one direction Zfromfjtop to bottom of the segments,

and a complementally wedge-formed band ring separate from the two main rings, adapted to embrace said tread ring and to be forced into the planethereof to'contract the segments upon the tire by theclosingtogether of the two main rings. ,6. A rubber-tire mold comprising upper and lower main=molding rings each formed with annularjsurfaces W for molding the sides and adjacent tread portionsof arelatively broad and shallow tire, the said tread-moldinf surfaces being on flanges whose outer s1 es constitute" centering means for the tread ring,lthe lower ring having a horizontal tread-ring seat surrounding its flange, a. scgmentalrlng slidingly supported on said seat for molding the intermediate tread portion of the tire, andwedging means operated by the; descent of the .upper main ring for contracting said tread ring upon the tire.

7 A rubber-tire mold comprising upper and lower main molding rings having annular tread-ring centering members, a treadmentally wedge-formed band ring adapted pansible tire-backing ring, a segmental to be actuated by the descent of the upper tread-molding ring, and a tread-ring-Wedg- 10 main ring and structurally separate thereing hand ring actuated by the upper main from for contracting said tread-molding rin 5 ring upon the tire. n Witness whereof I have hereunto set 8. A rubber-tire mold comprising upper my hand this 27 day of October, 1919. and lower wedge-formed molding rings, a complementally double-Wedge-formed ex- VICTOR A. PARKER. 

